Donald Trump’s obscene, sexist and racist outtakes from The Apprentice have become the stuff of legend. The tapes exist, and some outsiders claim to have seen them, but everyone involved has refused to officially make them public. Now, a sexual assault case filed last year by a former Apprentice contestant has finally resulted in a subpoena being served to Trump and his campaign. That subpoena appears to cover the tapes in question.Summer Zervos and her attorney Gloria Allred filed the suit against Donald Trump after the Access Hollywood tape surfaced of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women. Zervos is seeking to forcibly expose all available evidence of Trump’s longtime pattern of sexual harassment and sexual assault. According to reporting from BuzzFeed and NBC News (link), the subpoena has in fact been served. That means, by legal definition, that a judge signed off on the subpoena after having ruled that the evidence is relevant.

Trump’s people are still trying a last ditch motion to dismiss, in the hope of getting the subpoena thrown out. But that seems unlikely, considering that a judge decided the subpoena was worthy to begin with. Because Zervos has stated that her goal is to publicly expose Trump, rather than getting a monetary judgment against him, the logical outcome of this is that the evidence in question will be made public.

Based on the manner in which the Apprentice tapes have been described by those who claim to have seen them, and by those who claim to have witnessed the tapings in person, these tapes represent Exhibit A in Donald Trump’s pattern of sexual harassment and sexual assault so they fall within the scope of the subpoena that has been served to Trump. It’s another story as to whether the Apprentice tapes documenting Trump’s racist remarks would also have to be turned over.

When Donald Trump began holding campaign rallies this year which were officially for his 2020 reelection campaign, observers couldn’t figure out what he was really up to until it was discovered that at least part of the money being raised was actually being funneled to pay Donald Trump Jr’s legal bills in the Russia scandal. Now it turns out those supposed “reelection” funds may also be going to Trump’s personal secretary.Legal activist group Citizens for Ethics (CREW) has been routinely suing Donald Trump and related entities in court in order to expose his various financial schemes and scams, and is backed by legal heavyweights including Laurence Tribe and Richard Painter. CREW has managed to piece together that the same attorney is representing both Donald Trump Jr and and Donald Trump’s personal secretary Rhona Graff in the Russia scandal (link). This means that the “reelection” money being funneled to that attorney may for the purpose of covering the secretary’s legal bills as well. This would have major practical implications on the scandal.

If Donald Trump is scheming to cover the legal bills for Graff, then it strongly suggests that he’s trying to motivate her not to testify about what she’s witnessed. Depending on legal interpretation, this could be considered an attempt at obstructing justice. It would be one thing for Trump to pay his son’s legal bills; that’s a family matter. But paying his secretary’s legal bills, when she’s potentially a star witness against him in a criminal case, is another matter.

Even if it can’t be proven that Donald Trump is trying to buy his secretary’s silence in bad faith, this could signal to Special Counsel Robert Mueller where he should be digging next. There would have been communications between Trump, Graff, and/or the attorney regarding the arrangement and those could be subpoenaed. Either way, if Trump’s “2020 reelection” funds are indeed going to his personal secretary, that’s a scandal in and of itself.

Trump’s Presidency Is Bad for Business His OwnNBCNews.com
Donald Trump’s presidency is bad for business his own. Unless his business is getting presidential business. From golf courses to hotels to fashion, the sprawling brands of the president and his family have been taking hits since Election Day, based …and more »

The Danger of President PenceThe New Yorker
After Trump threatened to totally destroy North Korea, Gail Collins, the Times columnist, praised Vice-President Mike Pence as someone who at least seems less likely to get the planet blown up. This summer, an opinion column by Dana Milbank, of the …and more »

When Donald Trump began holding campaign rallies this year which were officially for his 2020 reelection campaign, observers couldn’t figure out what he was really up to until it was discovered that at least part of the money being raised was actually being funneled to pay Donald Trump Jr’s legal bills in the Russia scandal. Now it turns out those supposed “reelection” funds may also be going to Trump’s personal secretary.Legal activist group Citizens for Ethics (CREW) has been routinely suing Donald Trump and related entities in court in order to expose his various financial schemes and scams, and is backed by legal heavyweights including Laurence Tribe and Richard Painter. CREW has managed to piece together that the same attorney is representing both Donald Trump Jr and and Donald Trump’s personal secretary Rhona Graff in the Russia scandal (link). This means that the “reelection” money being funneled to that attorney may for the purpose of covering the secretary’s legal bills as well. This would have major practical implications on the scandal.

If Donald Trump is scheming to cover the legal bills for Graff, then it strongly suggests that he’s trying to motivate her not to testify about what she’s witnessed. Depending on legal interpretation, this could be considered an attempt at obstructing justice. It would be one thing for Trump to pay his son’s legal bills; that’s a family matter. But paying his secretary’s legal bills, when she’s potentially a star witness against him in a criminal case, is another matter.

Even if it can’t be proven that Donald Trump is trying to buy his secretary’s silence in bad faith, this could signal to Special Counsel Robert Mueller where he should be digging next. There would have been communications between Trump, Graff, and/or the attorney regarding the arrangement and those could be subpoenaed. Either way, if Trump’s “2020 reelection” funds are indeed going to his personal secretary, that’s a scandal in and of itself.

America needs some vertebrates in the Grand Old PartyKansas City Star (blog)
So how does Ryan imagine that a Corker/Trump conversation might unfold? Over dinner, Corker accuses the president of being a chaotic, directionless, shallow liar who could start a nuclear war. Trump passes the peas and attacks Corker for being short.and more »

Trump, Chieftain of SpiteNew York Times
This is the existence of Donald Trump in the wake of President Barack Obama. Trump can’t hold a candle to Obama, so he’s taking a tiki torch to Obama’s legacy. Trump can’t get his bad ideas though Congress, but he can use the power of the presidency to …and more »

Julian Assange may be on Putins payroll, defeated presidential candidate tells Australias Four Corners programHillary Clinton has repeated her claim that the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, colluded with the Russian government in the lead-up to the 2016 US election, describing him as a nihilistic opportunist who does the bidding of a dictator.

In an interview with the ABCs Four Corners program, to air on Monday night, Clinton alleges that Assange cooperated with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to disrupt the US election and damage her campaign for president.

There’s something wrong with Hillary Clinton. It is not just her constant lying. It is not just that she throws off menacing glares and seethes thwarted entitlement. Watch closely. Something much darker rides along with it. A cold creepiness rarely seen. https://t.co/JNw2dkXgdu